IRAF and Beyond

Fitzpatrick, Michael

The IRAF v2.15 release features support for 64-bit platforms and new installation/build procedures, these changes have a significant impact on developers and will affect all users. In addition, work continues on IRAF to modernize the system by adding support for compressed image data and to use the system to build high-performance pipelines capable of running on TeraGrid resources. Other efforts to expand the scope of IRAF beyond its traditional desktop use include preliminary work being done as part of a VAO/Opticon collaboration to develop a scalable software framework capable of utilizing existing (and trusted) science code to build applications suited to the volume and complexity we can expect in thenext decade.

This BoF is intended for IRAF users and developers wishing to learn more about recent and planned developments, and to discuss the impacts of these changeswith the developers directly. The release of the Astro2010 report and its comments on data reduction software and the importance of archive science also make this an opportune time for the ADASS community as a whole to discuss their viewsof the report and possible paths forward. Speakers are scheduled to present short talks (leading to lively discussion) on: